Conan the Roleplaying Game
is a Conan role-playing game (RPG) by Ian Sturrock published by Mongoose Publishing. Mongoose has attempted to capture the flavour and idiosyncracies of Howard’s world into the d20 System, just as they did with the Sláine RPG. Mongoose has also published many official adventures and supplements. Rules and Changes The rules for the Conan RPG are very similar in many cases to the typical D&D 3rd edition D20 rules. Most of a characters' abilites and skills depend upon modifiers to rolls on a twenty sided dice. Characters aquire improved skills and attributes with experience, and become more capable in combat and adventures. Characters can select from a wide variety of skills to take advantage of different combat and noncombat situations. Some important changes have been made, however. Ordinarily in D20, armour protects its wearer by making them harder to strike. In Conan, an armoured character can be struck more easily due to its encumberance, but protects the wearer from the damage of the strike. Most weapons have an 'armour piercing' value not found in regular D&D, designed to reduce this benefit. Some weapons' AP statistic is higher than others, so a character may wish to use different weapons depending on their enemies' equipment. Other changes are present in the low-magic flavour of Hyborian stories. In ordinary D&D, magic and sorcery are common, with many characters having access to spells and magical powers, or magical weapons and items. However, in the Conan RPG, magic is significantly rarer. There are very few character classes that make any use of magic, and their power comes with significant risks to the characters' morals or sanity. Many of the character classes in the Conan RPG reflect the experiences of Conan in his adventures. The roles he embarked on, and the people he met, heavily influenced the creators in developing the character classes that are available in the Conan RPG. For example, some of the character classes include Pirates, Nobles, Scholars, Thieves, Soldiers, Temptresses, and of course Barbarians. Unlike traditional D&D, there are no playable races except for humans. Conan never encountered dwarves, elves, or other typical fantasy races, and so they are not present in the RPG. However, the many different races found in the Hyborian Age are represented in the RPG. All these different peoples have skills or abilities dependant on their depictions in the stories. For example, Zamorians are able to be stealthy and capable thieves, and the Nordheimer races are burly and powerful fighters. Although it is possible for each race to take on many different classes, their culture heavily influences the classes that are available to them to begin with. For example, Cimmeria has no noble society, and so they cannot be Nobles. Similarly, although the Zingarans make fine sailors, their country is too civilized for a Barbarian culture. Rule books * Conan the Roleplaying Game - Atlantean Edition - The 352-page rule book, also available in a Pocket Edition. * GM Screen - Tables to help the GM; with art from the game. Supplements * Across the Thunder River • MGP7705 • Vincent Darlage • 2004 * Aquilonia - Flower of the West • Vincent Darlage • 2005 * Faith & Fervour • Vincent Darlage • 2006 * The Free Companies • Shannon Kalvar • 2005 * Hyboria's Fallen - Pirates, Thieves and Temptresses • Vincent Darlage • 2005 * Hyboria's Fiercest - Barbarians, Borderers and Nomads • Vincent Darlage • 2005 * Hyboria's Finest - Nobles, Scholars and Soldiers • Vincent Darlage • 2005 * Messantia - City of Riches • Greg Lynch • 2004 * The Pirate Isles • Shannon Kalvar • 2004 * The Road of Kings • Vincent Darlage • 2004 * Ruins of Hyboria • Vincent Darlage • 2006 * The Scrolls of Skelos • Ian Sturrock • 2004 * Shadizar - City of Wickedness • Vincent Darlage • 2005 * Stygia - Serpent of the South • Vincent Darlage • 2006 * Tito's Trading Post • Vincent Darlage • 2006 Adventures * The Black Stones of Kovag-Re • PDF only * The Coming of Hanuman • PDF only * Conan and the Heretics of Tarantia • Greg Lynch • 2005 * Conan and the Lurking Terror of Nahab • Bryan Steele • 2006 * Conan and the Tower of the Elephant • Greg Lynch • 2005 * Tales of the Black Kingdom • Nicholas Bergquist • 2005 External links * Mongoose Publishing: Conan Category:RPG